Well I'm almost 12mths since last treatments

Hi John!

I completed my last treatment 10 months ago. My mouth is also still very dry and I cannot eat a lot of things that I used to enjoy. I am French and food is part of my DNA therefore not being able to eat what I would like to eat is frustrating and upsetting. Please try to focus on what you can eat and not on what you cannot eat. I regularly try new food and if it works fine but if it doesn't I think ok, I cannot eat this yet, I will try again in a few weeks' time. I also try to make my own recipes to make the food I can tolerate more exciting. I know it is very tough and life will never be the same but please try to focus on positive aspects. Maybe try new gentle activities? New hobbies if you are up to it? It is perfectly natural to feel low but life is worth fighting for. Just take your time, take each day at a time and be kind to yourself. it takes time to adapt and build a new life. Have you had counselling sessions ? it is very important for you to express how you feel and make sense of it all. I am still having some counselling sessions and they do help. Look after yourself and do not be harsh on yourself, it takes a long time for our bodies to repair themselves. The treatment you went through was a very tough treatment. 

Sending you loads of positive energy.

Fabienne

Hi John, try not to let things get you down, your body still has a lot of healing to do, it does all take time. You will get there in the end, remember it's a marathon not a sprint. Take care.

Ray 

HimJohn  As others  have said it’s a marathon not a sprint. If you can’t eat a favourite thing forget about it and try something else. It can take time and for me I find I get more pleasure from vegetarian dishes than many meat ones .Lamb and rare steak is ok for me pork and chicken breast a no no. Took me 2 years to eat mince from butchers but I could do processed mince. It wasn’t my choice but if I wanted a lasagna I got a mark and spencer one previously I would make my own. 
The treatments brutal and cruel but life’s precious so make the most of it. As Fab says try a new hobby yiu might surprise yourself..It’s nit uncommon for head and neck cancer patients to have a mild dose of anti depressants maybe a visit to g p might help I know a few in here that did that and it really helped them Macmillian offer 6 free counselling sessions that may be worth exploring. 
Type in the search bar and the link should be there. 
Hazel x

Hi John. Listen to the others. They have been where you are but things do get better. 
I’ll add that for me acupuncture helped my saliva to improve. I have a couple of posts in my blog. 
Chewing gum can stimulate what saliva you have left. 
Don’t despair. Look where you are now compared to a year ago. 

Hi. I’m 16 months post treatment. I had several acupuncture sessions for PTSD, healing/relaxation & auricular acupuncture for saliva stimulation. I found the sessions to be extremely beneficial. Chewing sugar free gum regularly each day also helps greatly with dry mouth & mouth taste. I use ACT gum from iherb & also like watermelon flavour gum. Saliva stimulation pastilles from Amazon are really good too as are Fox’s sugar free lemon/mint/elderflower sweets. I used to love cups of tea & was a chocoholic. Nowadays I don’t like either but have found other things that I like instead. I no longer eat meat & enjoy vegetarian meals. Keep trying different foods as taste buds change & some foods/drinks that I couldn’t tolerate in the early months of recovery are now fine, such as coffee.  Dry mouth during the night was an issue so I used Xylimelts. I no longer need them. The tiredness has improved over time, but some days I still need a little afternoon nap. Do you work? I went back to teaching part time at just about 6 months & although it was v challenging I am glad I did so. I had 6 counselling sessions from Macmillan & found them extremely helpful.